Smart City Mission: Centre to announce next 10 cities' names by January-end

The Centre will announce the next set of 10 cities for funding under the Smart City Mission by January-end next year, a top official said today.

The Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has till now announced the names of 90 cities under the scheme and each city will get Rs 500 crore as central assistance for implementing projects.

The government aims to develop 100 smart cities under the scheme.

"The process is on. We have received the proposals from the cities. Next 10 cities will be announced by January-end next year," Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary D S Mishra told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.

The ministry has received proposals from 15 cities for the fifth and the final round of the mission, while five cities have not submitted their plans, an official said.

Some of the cities that have sent their proposals include Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh), Biharsharif (Bihar), Amravati (Maharashtra), Erode and Dindigal (Tamil Nadu), and Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad, Meerut, Saharanpur, Bareilly, Rampur, Rae Bareli and Ghaziabad, the official said.

Silvasa (Dadra and Nagar Haveli), Kavarati (Lakshdweep) and Diu (Daman and Diu) have also sent their proposals.

The official said that Bidhannagar, Durgapur and Haldia in West Bengal, Shillong in Meghalaya and Greater Mumbai in Maharashtra have not submitted their proposals under the scheme.

The West Bengal governmenthas already announced that it would not participate in the Centre's Smart City programme.